The present invention pertains to a floor console for a vehicle and particularly a floor console which includes both the transmission shifter mechanism and the parking brake control prior to installation of the console in a vehicle.
Vehicles such as automobiles, utility vehicles and the like typically include split driver and passenger front seats between which there is mounted the gear shift mechanism, parking brake and, in many models, a floor console which may includes accessories such as container holders, storage compartments and the like. In the past, the gear shift mechanism has been mounted to the vehicle during assembly as has the parking brake mechanism and the floor console subsequently placed over the existing gear shift assembly and parking brake lever. With the addition of significantly greater emphasis of the convenience afforded by floor consoles having additional convenience features, it is increasingly difficult to provide a floor console with multiple features and accommodate the assembly of the floor console onto existing vehicle structures which include parking brake levers and gear shift mechanisms. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide the console itself with the controls for both the transmission as well as the parking brake. It is, however, problematic to mount the controls for the gear shift levers on a console and couple the console to the gear shift control mechanism mounted to the vehicle floor in view of the precise adjustment necessary to assure proper operation of the transmission. A solution to this problem has been provided and is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/886,571 filed on Jul. 1, 1997, and entitled VEHICLE CONSOLE WITH BUILT-IN VEHICLE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER HAVING CABLE TENSION ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM AND METHOD. The structure disclosed in this application provides a console with a gear shift mechanism which automatically couples to the gear shift control cables previously assembled to the vehicle chassis during vehicle manufacturing and assures that the gear shift controls associated with the console properly operates the transmission once the console is mounted to the vehicle. There still remains, however, a need to incorporate in a console a parking brake control mechanism, and, as with the gear shift coupling mechanism, it is necessary to accommodate for the coupling of such a parking brake control to the parking brake cable mechanism associated with the vehicle in a manner which makes assembly easy during manufacturing of the vehicle as well as provide proper operation of the parking brake.